FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 18 Years to Life in Prison
For Fatally Shooting Man During Argument in Bushwick Nail Salon
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 29-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a man who was engaged in an argument with the defendant’s friend in a Bushwick nail salon.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “What should have ended with an argument took a tragic turn when this defendant chose to open fire inside a crowded salon in the middle of the day. The defendant now has to face the consequences of his decision that ultimately cost a man his life.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Kenneth Bryant, 29, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today to 18 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice. The defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial last month. He also was sentenced today to an additional seven years in prison, to run consecutively to the 18 years to life, for violating his probation on a prior gun possession conviction.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on October 23, 2014, at approximately 2:20 p.m., the defendant and a friend were in a nail salon at 1165 Myrtle Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The victim, Demetrius Mayo, 28, entered the salon with two friends and an argument ensued between the victim and the defendant’s friend. The argument turned physical, at which point the defendant shot the victim five times, killing him.
According to trial testimony, the defendant and his friend fled the scene, but the defendant left behind his backpack and ID. An eyewitness receiving a manicure/pedicure in the salon identified the defendant and his friend. The defendant was apprehended in Bridgeport, Connecticut on April 15, 2015 and admitted to the shooting.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Lewis Lieberman, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Krystyn Tendy, of the District Attorney’s Trial Bureau Grey Zone, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Chief of the Homicide Bureau.
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